Questions from an ambitious 19 year old.

[NavyScarab]

I'm new, was referred here by some sites.
So here are my questions...

I'm joining the Navy, i'm 19 and with recent hardships and college not really working out it is my best option. I am going in as a Hospitalman (closest to doctor) and will be around physicians/medical officers all the time. Now here are my questions...

I had to withdraw from college twice (currently working on withdrawal petitions) 1st time involved cancer and the 2nd time i was going on active duty with the navy.
Now how would this look to a medical school? Cause i plan on getting my bachelor's and maybe a Master's while i'm in the service....and yes its possible. (Got to love online courses!) Would medical schools care, like, hate, frown upon this way?
Would my community college past hurt my future? I'm hoping i can get them into W's before i ship out so they don't look that bad...
Realistically i won't be applying to medical school for another 5-8 years, because of my duty requirements and getting all my course work done.

Sorry for the clutter and the questions but this is something I always wanted to pursue and now that I have nothing holding me back to get it started...I want to jump in head first

Thank you to all who answer!

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[student1799]

NavyScarab, at least you're getting your **** together at 19. (It took some of us a lot longer than that!) While that's really good, if you have your heart set on med school, there is one REALLY IMPORTANT thing you have to do:

*****1. Get those withdrawal petitions done NOW. No ifs, ands or buts.

This is by far the highest priority if you ever want to go to med school. Your reasons for withdrawing are perfectly understandable, and I don't think med schools would hold it against you as long as you explained everything. HOWEVER, if you end up with F's on your transcript instead of W's, you are going to be toast. AMCAS (the med school application service everyone must use) is incredibly strict, and every college grade you EVER got (including college courses you took in high school) is counted in your GPA. Obviously, F's are going to ruin that GPA, and you may never be able to repair the damage. (W's, on the other hand, are OK because they are excluded from your GPA.) So you MUST deal with this now, or you won't be able to get into med school at all.

2. The rest is not so cut and dried. Generally med schools turn their noses up at online courses, but community college can be acceptable if there's no alternative. (In other words, they wouldn't want you passing up State U and going to the CC down the street instead, but if there's no U nearby, or the classes there won't work with your schedule, they might accept CC courses.)

3. Re military to medicine, there are a TON of current and former military people who post about this very topic on SDN--just search or look through the non-trad forum for the threads and/or posts. (For example, there is an "Official USMC-to-doc" thread.) If you check out those posts, I'm sure you'll pick up a lot of good info that will be relevant to your situation. You may even be able to PM some of the members to have private discussions with them.

Good luck and Godspeed. And PLEASE take care of those W's. Promise?

 

[Law2Doc]

I think the next 8 years are going to decide whether you have a shot at med school. Agree to get those withdrawal petitions taken care of. Then be stellar for the next 5-8 years, and pick up the education you require. If you are a shining star for the next 8 years, explaining away being young and unfocused at 19 might fly with adcoms. Certainly military service, and medical exposure in the military, is looked on as a big positive.

 

[Goobster20]

Excuse me for being naive, but what is a withdrawal petition? I used to be in graduate school and withdrew from the program before all my final grades were entered. Actually, all grades were entered but 1 and I still don't have a grade for it because I withdrew from school before it got posted. It's a strange scenario -- it's on my transcript but there is no grade. I'm wondering if it can be removed or if it needs to be left blank, or if they're going to wind up issuing a grade - hopefully not an F since I left the program.

 

[Law2Doc]

Excuse me for being naive, but what is a withdrawal petition? I used to be in graduate school and withdrew from the program before all my final grades were entered. Actually, all grades were entered but 1 and I still don't have a grade for it because I withdrew from school before it got posted. It's a strange scenario -- it's on my transcript but there is no grade. I'm wondering if it can be removed or if it needs to be left blank, or if they're going to wind up issuing a grade - hopefully not an F since I left the program.

Having no grade and getting a W instead of an F is a HUGE difference when you eventually apply through AMCAS, because you don't take the hit to GPA. I assume that is what OP is trying to accomplish. Typically if you just stop going but don't file the paperwork, schools will give you F's, which you don't want for med school app purposes.

 

[lapelirroja]

I recognized this exact thread from the PA forum...listen, do you want to be a PA or an MD? A career as a PA should not be used as a backup, usually adcoms can see through this, but what if you took the seat away from someone who has dreamed of being a PA? You wouldn't be satisfied as a PA if you want to be a physician...additionally, your grades would also obviously be a problem for PA schools as well as they become more competitive in the coming years. Bottom line? think long and hard, pick a career goal, and go for it. Good luck!

 

[Vith]

I'm new, was referred here by some sites.
So here are my questions...

I'm joining the Navy, i'm 19 and with recent hardships and college not really working out it is my best option. I am going in as a Hospitalman (closest to doctor) and will be around physicians/medical officers all the time. Now here are my questions...

I had to withdraw from college twice (currently working on withdrawal petitions) 1st time involved cancer and the 2nd time i was going on active duty with the navy.
Now how would this look to a medical school? Cause i plan on getting my bachelor's and maybe a Master's while i'm in the service....and yes its possible. (Got to love online courses!) Would medical schools care, like, hate, frown upon this way?
Would my community college past hurt my future? I'm hoping i can get them into W's before i ship out so they don't look that bad...
Realistically i won't be applying to medical school for another 5-8 years, because of my duty requirements and getting all my course work done.

Sorry for the clutter and the questions but this is something I always wanted to pursue and now that I have nothing holding me back to get it started...I want to jump in head first

Thank you to all who answer!

Best of luck to you. You're definately doing yourself good by taking this road. In retrospect, I kind of wish I'd joined the Navy instead of the AF-- and I definately wish I'd done something medical. You'll get to see parts of the world that most folks won't see in their whole lives, and you'll have thousands of hours of patient care and clinical experience under your belt by the time you're finished with school.
Just stay diligent with school while you serve and keep your goal in your sights. It's going to be very easy to get distracted going through boot camp and tech school and then working/partying. If all else, focus on getting your general education stuff done however you can and then transfer to a decent school once the opportunity arises. Your Navy credits will help a lot here, too.
I also had a bad semester of community college right out of high school, and caught an F and a couple W's for it. Now here I am, 8 years later, busting my @ss to make up for something a dumb kid did to my education record and hoping adcoms will be forgiving.

Another thing-- I'm not sure if this is true for the Navy, but the AF has a stipulation in the regs that you can separate at any point once you've been accepted to medical school. Something to take a look at once the time comes.

Keep us posted!